Brian Scalabrine criticizes today's NBA for glorifying players who don't play defense: " I think it's embarrassing"

brian-scalabrine

Former Boston Celtics forward Brian Sclabrine isn’t a fan of the NBA today because he feels many players get too much credit for not playing defense. In his latest appearance on “KG Certified,” Sclabrine explained why it irks him so much that superstars get that label so fast despite not being known as two-way players.

“Things I don’t like about the NBA is when we anoint teams and players that aren’t two-way players. I like two-way players and I think a lot of that has to do with my career: Jersey, Celtics, Bulls and the best player was Jason Kidd, you [Kevin Garnett] and Derrick Rose. You guys took so much pride defensively, so I just know the league like that,” Brian said.

Defense is given less importance

Sclabarine isn’t the first to complain about the lack of defense in the NBA today. In fact, this is the number one critique former players have about the state of the game. Today’s league revolves so much around offense that scoring has become the number one criterion for defining a superstar. “The White Mamba” feels this is doing the game a disservice.

“I don’t like it when guys don’t take pride on that side of the ball. I think it’s kind of embarrassing to anoint people superstars or guys who are future MVPs that don’t play on both sides of the floor. I don’t think we talk about that enough. When we talk about MVP or something like that, we don’t talk about the defensive side. So that’s the only thing I don’t like about the NBA right now,” the retired forward added.

Scalabrine has a point in saying that one way, players are given too much credit in the league today. For example, look at how different the conversations are regarding three-time defensive player of the year Rudy Gobert as opposed to someone like Trae Young.

Obviously, Young is way more talented offensively, but his lack of defense needs to be discussed, as it is akin to Gobert’s offensive flaws. Players like Tyler Herro, Tyrese Maxey, Jordan Poole, and even James Harden also get way too much credit for being superior offensive players, while people neglect their shortcomings on the defensive end.

But that doesn’t mean Sclabrine hates everything

Even with the decrease in defensive intensity, Scal said there have been benefits that have come with the NBA leaning more on offense. The fact that there’s more spacing, shooting, and shotmaking is great for the game because it highlights a pure basketball player’s skill set.

Ultimately, the one-time champion just wishes that there was more two-way talent in the league because, after all, basketball is not all about offense. Maybe Scal’s wish that the league go back to glorifying two-way players will manifest again one day as the NBA competition committee contemplates how they can improve the basketball product we’re seeing.